Tennyson Trail

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Following on from Calbourne - WH Long: there being no public transport nearby, we decided to walk back to Newport along the Tennyson Trail.  It looked straightforward: starting at Winkle Street (probably one of the most picturesque village scenes on the Island), head south along Lynch Lane toward Brighstone, then cut south-east through Brighstone Forest to meet the Trail near the summit of Brighstone Down, the highest point in the central Island.

Winkle Street, Calbourne

Lodge with Westover behind

Brighstone road

In Brighstone Forest

Brighstone Forest - 'cathedral in the woods' (note figure for scale)

The trouble was, we got lost in the forest. Not "lost" in the full sense of the word: sun direction and terrain made it clear where we were in general terms. But there was a criss-cross of quad biking trails that tended to lead nowhere; and near the summit, where the undergrowth thickened, it took us nearly an hour - an increasingly irritated one - to find a path that led to the actual Tennyson Trail. It was nevertheless a beautiful place: the first time I've ever encountered a forest fitting the rather over-used description of "cathedral-like". We eventually found a distinctive curve in a track that matched the map, and got out on to the down top and the path back to Carisbrooke.

North-east view to Portsmouth

North view across Parkhurst Forest

View south-east

View south-east

View to Newport (left) and Carisbrooke Castle

Carisbrooke Castle

Egret in ford, Carisbrooke

It was about 6.5 miles, with more than one stiff climb (during my attempts to find the track), and quite warm; I was tempted to paddle in the egret's pond.

- Ray